Headstone for John Mack Brice
Item
- Legacies Classification
- Memorial Type
- Memorial Context
- Memorialized Subject
- Title
- Background and Context
- Physical Description
- Memorial Inscription
- Creator/Participating Person(s)
- Date created, installed or dedicated
- Funded by
- Location: Institution, City, State
- Learn More About this Subject
-
Memorial Artwork
-
Sculptural Memorial
-
Headstone for John Mack Brice
-
John Mack Brice Sr. passed away on Thursday, December 27, 1973. Brice worked at Davidson College for thirty-five years as a janitor, mailman, and supervisor of the mimeograph before retiring in 1968. He died of vascular disease at Lowrance Hospital in Mooresville, Iredell County North Carolina.
Family and friends arranged his funeral for Sunday, December 30, 1973, with help from the Bryant Lytle Young Funeral Home. Following the well-attended service at Torrence Chapel A.M.E Zion Church, he was buried in the church cemetery. He is interred next to his wife, Susan Johnson, who died two years earlier in 1971. The gravestones of two sons are located nearby: Johnny Edward Brice and Jackson Harry Brice. The Charlotte Observer published the obituary on December 29, 1973. It noted that his sons, Ozon Brice, Hubert Brice, and Harry Brice survived him along with his daughters, Theolia Davis, Bernice Stinson, and Ethel Mae Kane. His brother, Emory Brice, also survived him. No public information exists on whether the school recognized his death.
-
His rectangular gravestone stands at the front of the graveyard, featuring a floral design in the bottom right corner. The gravestone is approximately three feet tall and three feet wide, with a text box in the center containing his inscription. The top part is about three inches wide. A stone slab connects his gravestone to his wife’s. The slab has the family name “Brice” inscribed. A vase-like structure adorned with prayer hands sits atop the center slab. Fake flowers from a potential surviving family member rest inside. His wife’s gravestone sits to his right and mirrors his gravestone in design and structure. The backs of their gravestones are plain, without any design or inscription. His son, Jackson Harry Brice, has a gravestone to his left, while a smaller gravestone for his son, Johnny Edward Brice, sits behind. Jackson Harry Brice’s gravestone includes broken figurines. Based on a visit to the gravesite in April 2025, his gravestone remains in excellent condition, with clear readability and no dents.
-
John Mack. Sr.
June 6, 1891
Dec. 27, 1973
Brice written in the middle on a slab connecting his gravestone to his wife’s.
-
Family and friends of John Mack Brice
-
December 1973
-
Family and friends of John Mack Brice
-
“John Mack Brice,” The Charlotte Observer, December 29, 1973, 20A.
-
“Death Certificate of John Brice,” North Carolina State Board of Health Office and Vital Statistics, January 8, 1974, accessed in Ancestry.com.
-
“John Mack Brice,” in North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976 [database on-line], Ancestry.com
-
“Death Certificate of Susan Brice,” North Carolina State Board of Health and Office Vital Statistics, November 8, 1971, accessed in Ancestry.com.
-
“John Brice Retires; Served From 1933,” The Davidsonian, February 2, 1968, 6.
-
“Tribute to a Janitor,” The Davidsonian, November 4, 1955, 4.
Position: 1767 (45 views)